Welcome to History 461: Europe in the Eighteenth Century.
This is an advanced course on Europe , 1715 – 1789. It is presumed that you have previously taken a college-level course in European History or at least have a basic familiarity with modern European history. (If you do not have a familiarity, you may want to consult a basic work, such as the textbook Perry, Western Civilization , or a readable introduction to the topic, such as John Merriman, Modern Europe , or the works in the series Norton History of Modern Europe)
This is also a Distance Education course; the instruction and course-work is on-line and asynchronous (meaning you will work at your own pace.) Note that, as explained below, there is still a regular schedule for this course, involving weekly reading assignments, weekly on-line discussions, and 2 papers with fixed due dates. During an ordinary semester, it would be expected that you devote on average 6 hours per week to this course, to view the lectures, read the assignments, participate in the discussions and prepare your written assignments. During a summer session, it would be expected that you devote 18 hours per week for the same work. (IF you are not able to participate regularly in the on-line discussions throughout the term or devote that amount of time per week to this course, you may want to reconsider if this is the course for you.)
The on-line portion of our course will take place on the UNLV WebCT website, at http://webcampus.unlv.edu. You have probably already logged in successfully if you are reading this overview. On this website, you will find the course syllabus, the lectures in streaming video format, outlines of the lectures (in PowerPoint format), and other course resources, including the course assignments, online discussions and course email feature.
If you have any difficulties or questions about the on-line component of the course, including the video lectures, please contact the Campus Computing Student Help Desk. There is information and a form to submit questions at their website: http://oit.unlv.edu/units/student-help-desk or by phone at 895 – 0761.
If you have questions on the course content, assignments or other materials unrelated to information technology, those of course should be directed to the instructor; if possible, please email me using the webct email (so that I know your email is for this course), though if that is not possible, feel free to write me at gbrown@unlv.nevada.edu or call me at 895-4181. Students in this class are also welcome, and encouraged, to come to my office (Wright Hall, B-317; summer office hours are by appointment only), or to arrange an online office chat (also by appointment).
The course material will consist of both lectures and readings (described in greater detail below). Our lectures will offer an overview of economy, society, politics, warfare, diplomacy and ideas during the period from 1715 to 1789, our readings will emphasize the cultural and intellectual history of the “Age of Enlightenment.” This means that while most weeks, the reading will be closely related to the lecture, some weeks, the readings will be on different topics from the lectures. Neither the lectures alone nor the readings alone are sufficient; you should plan on viewing all the lectures and doing all the reading each week, prior to your participation in the on-line discussion.
|